The rain just wouldn’t go away, but that didn’t stop Usain Bolt or Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce from leaving a lasting effect on a crowd that waited for hours on the final day of the athletic events here on Saturday.
There was cheer for India, too, as Arpinder Singh won a bronze in the men’s triple jump. It could have been silver, had the conditions been perfect. After leading the pack at the end of the first jump, the 21-year-old from Amritsar struggled through the next five rounds in the cold and windy conditions.
Starting off with a good 16.63m — which eventually turned out to be his best effort — Arpinder could only muster marks of 16.46, 16.31 and 16.09, before fouling his final two attempts.
He finished behind Khotso Mokoena (South Africa) — the only one to cross the 17m mark with a jump of 17.20 in his second effort — and Tosin Oke (Nigeria) who took silver with 16.84.
“It is good,” said Arpinder, though not very jubilant, blaming the weather and the absence of his coach for finishing with a bronze. “In the Asian Games, I am hopeful of putting up a better show,” he added.
Bolt and Fraser-Pryce were rewarded with the famous Hampden “Roar” expectedly, as they anchored Jamaica to wins in the 4x100m relay in record time in their respective sections.
Bolt anchored his team to finish in 37.58s, and Fraser-Pryce took her quartet home in 41.83s. England won the men’s silver in 38.02s and Trinidad and Tobago the bronze at 38.10s. Among the women, Nigeria and England took the other medals.
Kenya rounded off its campaign with three more gold medals during the day. Mercy Cherono was the first to get past the finishing line in the women’s 5000m in 15:07.21 ahead of compatriot Janet Kisa (15:08.90). England’s Jo Pavey (15:08.96) won her second bronze in the Games.
The African nation’s men finished in similar fashion in the 1500m, as James Kiplagat (3:39.31) took the gold and Ronald Kwemoi (3:39.53) the silver. New Zealand’s Nick Willis (3:39.60) won the bronze. Julius Kiplangat Yego gave Kenya its first gold medal from the field as he topped the men’s javelin throw with an effort of 83.87m. Keshorn Walcott (Trinidad & Tobago) was placed second with 82.67m and Harnish Peacock (Australia) the bronze with 81.75m.
Defending champion Alana Boyd (Australia) cleared 4.50m to retain her pole vault gold medal leaving Sally Peake (Wales) in silver even as Alysha Newman (Canada) and Sally Scott (England) shared the bronze.
England clocked 3:00.46 to win the 4x400m relay in the men’s section, holding off Bahamas (3:00.51) and Trinidad and Tobago (3:01.51). Stephanie McPherson anchored the Jamaican women home with a new Games record of 3:23.82. Nigeria took silver (3:24.71) and England the bronze (3:27.24).
